3 AM
by rachelelizabeth-p
Summary: prompt found on Tumblr - "Someone needs to write a 'the fire alarm went off at 3 am and now the cute guy from the flat next door is standing next to me in his underwear' AU"


"Effing fire alarm," Katherine Plumber muttered to herself, descending down the cold tile stairs of her apartment building. A three AM wake up does not bring out the best in people, evident in the glazed-over eyes and tight jaws of Katherine's neighbors. Katherine was still awake when the alarm went off, working on a paper for her journalism class due later that day. She grumbled a bit since she had to pull on a jacket and shoes, but part of her was happy to take a break from her paper and get out of the apartment she had holed herself up in for the past six hours.

Pulitzer Plaza was a decent place to live. Three floors of apartments, a parking lot, and cheap rent brought a wide variety of people. Luckily, Katherine was at the top and didn't have to deal with the weirder tenants on the bottom two floors. She had heard stories of the drunken musical stylings of one Race Higgins or the screaming ex-girlfriends of a supposed stud named Romeo, and she was glad that she didn't have to worry about any of that kind of craziness near her.

The stairwell was full of crazy right now. Though everyone was half-asleep, Katherine couldn't help but laugh at the fashion around her. Davey Jacobs from across the hall had obviously pulled on his girlfriend's tank, resulting in an unattractive crop top. A guy we called Specs staggered back and forth between the wall and the railing in sweatpants and a sweatshirt on backwards. Miss Larkin's hair looked like a bird's nest, and she hadn't even to put a coat over her silky pajamas.

Katherine reached the bottom floor and exited outside into the chill autumn air. The parking lot was filled police cars, ambulances, and fire trucks, causing everyone to shield their eyes at first. Katherine didn't bother to look behind her to see what the commotion about and went to the small patch of grass across the square. Several lights were on in the surrounding buildings, where annoyed onlookers investigated out their windows about what had woken them up.

"Man, it's freezing."

Katherine looked to her right.

"Jack Kelly from 3B." A guy Katherine's age stood beside her, hand extended in her direction, in just his boxers.

Jack Kelly.

She had heard the name a few times, mostly in passing remarks from other tenants. He had moved into the apartment beside hers a few weeks ago, but somehow their paths had never crossed until now. Katherine meant to go see him at least once, but never got around to it due to college. She never expected to be meeting him for the first time at three in the morning and especially not when he was dressed in practically nothing.

Blushing furiously, she quickly shook his hand and let go. He was smirking, arms crossed as he tried to keep warm.

"It's Katherine, right?" Jack asked, but Katherine didn't answer right away. _What a face! _Katherine had to admit that Jack was handsome with his dark hair and mischievous eyes. His body wasn't that bad to look at either. He slightly reminded her of her ex, Darcy, but Jack was much taller and cuter. Katherine realized that she was staring.

"Ah, yes! Katherine Plumber. I live in 3A," she blurted out quickly, and he laughed. Feeling uncomfortable with the eye contact, Katherine turned back towards the building. "Do you know why we're standing out here at this time freezing our butts off?"

"The idiot in 1D decided to set his potted plant on fire to see how fast it could burn."

Katherine rolled her eyes. Sadly, the idiot was someone she knew. Henry wasn't the brightest of people, though he had gotten into the same ivy league school she had. Katherine hadn't seen him on campus once, but he was infamously known as the student who set off firecrackers in the female locker room on the first day.

"I've actually thought of doing that myself. That plant was the ugliest thing in the Plaza," Katherine joked, and Jack grinned. Katherine had walked by that plant for two years as it sat in the front window of Henry's apartment.

"Right? I mean I've only been around for a little while, and I wanted to chuck that thing in the dumpster."

Katherine laughed, something she hadn't done for a long time. A firefighter walked over to her and Jack, obviously annoyed with how much the situation had been blown out of proportion and that he had to deal with people like Henry this early in the morning.

"Everything's clear now. You can go back in," he said, sounding tired.

"Was the apartment damaged?" Jack asked, and the firefighter shook his head.

"Nah, the kid was able to throw the plant into the bathtub before anything else caught on fire. The neighbors still called 911 after they smelled something burning so it turns out that the plant gives off quite the stench. His apartment's going to smell something awful for a few days."

"Thank god, we're on the top floor. Sorry for the misunderstanding." Jack shook the firefighter's hand, and the man walked off. Katherine and Jack began the trek back to their building. "I feel like it was you typing on your keyboard before the alarm went off." Katherine turned to him in surprise.

"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry! I didn't realize that I was being so loud." Katherine felt extremely embarrassed.

Jack shrugged his shoulders. "It's fine. I was talking with my brother, Charlie, up in New York. He works there at a publishing house, and I hate being so far away from him."

"What brought you to Santa Fe?" New Mexico was beautiful, but Katherine was a city girl at heart.

"It's just something I've always wanted. My brother and I have always been on our own, and I wish he could have come with me. Charlie loved New York too much though, so I had to come without him."

"I'm sorry."

Jack smiled. "It's all right. I don't hate him or nothing. New York was a pretty nice place to be, but it held too many memories for me to enjoy it." Jack stopped walking, and Katherine almost ran into him. "What're you doing? Your apartment's that way." Katherine realized that she and him were standing directly in front of his door. She stepped back quickly.

"Oh, goodnight," Katherine said quickly, turned around, and started towards her door.

"Do you want to get a coffee sometime?"

Katherine smiled before turning back around."Only if you're wearing some clothes, Kelly."

Jack grinned. "It's a date, Ace."

"Excuse me?" Katherine was stunned. Had he just called her a nickname? Jack must've thought he had done something wrong and tried to correct himself immediately.

"I meant-ace-you live in apartment A-cards?" Katherine laughed at his blubbering, and he froze.

"I like it! I've never had a nickname."

"Great! I mean that's cool. Goodnight, Ace." Jack opened the door to his apartment and smiled once more before disappearing inside.

"Goodnight, Kelly." Katherine said to herself and went back to her apartment. Closing her laptop for the night, Katherine couldn't help but smile.

She couldn't wait for that coffee date.


End file.
